Bang! Bang!
With two soft thuds, Star-Lord and the others carried Thor and Loki into the ship and laid them on the beds.
After checking them over, Star-Lord said in disbelief, "How are these two still alive?"
"That was outer space. How did they not die?"
He reached out and poked Thor's arm with a finger, "Hey, this guy's built."
The red-skinned Drax said seriously, "He's not just a guy."
He glanced at Star-Lord, "You're just a guy."
"He's a real man."
"Handsome. Muscular."
Star-Lord refused to accept that, "I'm muscular too. Why am I just a guy while he's a real man?"
Rocket Raccoon looked at him with disgust, "Oh, stop talking, Quill."
"You're only one bowl of food away from being fat."
Star-Lord was about to argue.
"He's right, Quill. You've put on quite a bit lately," Drax sided with Rocket.
Star-Lord had no choice but to look at the green-skinned, red-haired Gamora, "You think I've gotten fat too?"
Gamora couldn't be bothered with him. She turned to Mantis instead, "How are they?"
Mantis placed both hands on Thor's head. The two antennae on her forehead glowed, "He's anxious. And furious."
"He's full of guilt."
"He's like the child of a noble angel and a wild pirate," Gamora said as she walked over.
Star-Lord couldn't stand everyone crowding around a complete stranger, "Wake them up."
Mantis used her ability, gently placing a hand on Thor's forehead.
As her antennae flashed, Thor's remaining eye snapped open. He sprang to his feet.
The sudden movement startled everyone.
Thor rushed to the other side of the cabin before stopping. After steadying himself, he turned to face the unfamiliar group.
"Who are you people?"
"Where's Thanos?"
Gamora's whole body stiffened, "What did you say?"
"Thanos?"
Thor nodded, then noticed Loki lying on the bed.
He walked over and looked at him.
"I'll wake him," Mantis said.
"No need."
Thor grabbed Loki by the collar and raised his hand to slap him.
"No!"
Loki's eyes flew open. He pointed at Thor's raised hand, "You can't wake people that violently, brother."
Thor let go and dropped him, "You're awake?"
"When did you wake up?"
Loki straightened his collar and rose gracefully, "The moment you got up. You scared me awake."
"Yeah, right."
Thor didn't believe a word of it.
Gamora walked over, interrupting the brothers, "You mentioned Thanos."
"What happened?"
Thor looked at her, then briefly explained how Thanos had attacked the refugee ship.
After hearing the story, Gamora walked over to the viewport with a grave expression, "As far as I know, Thanos has only ever had one goal."
"He wants to kill half of all life."
At that moment, Mantis brought food to Thor and Loki. The two brothers ate while listening to Gamora.
"He wants to wipe out half the population to maintain balance in the universe."
Loki spread his hands, "What gives him the right?"
Gamora said, "I often heard him talk about his homeworld. Titan used to be a rich and beautiful planet."
"But overpopulation led to resource shortages, and in the end it became a dead world."
"That became a wound he could never forget. Since then, he's devoted his life to maintaining the balance of the universe in his own way. He believes it's the best solution."
Gamora rubbed her forehead, "He's massacred people across countless planets. Countless lives have been lost because of him. My homeworld was no exception."
"If he gathers all the Infinity Stones, one snap of his fingers will erase half of all life."
Rocket waved a little paw, "So the Infinity Stones are basically wish-granting stones? One snap and your wish comes true? If it were me, I'd wish for money I could never spend."
The red-skinned Drax gritted his teeth, "If it were me, I'd wish Thanos would be torn to pieces."
The tree person, who had been holding a game console, looked up, "I am Groot."
"Oh! No! No! No! You can't say things like that."
Rocket pointed at Groot.
"Ever since you grew up, you've turned into a little punk, you know that?"
"Now you're even saying stuff like that."
Loki asked curiously, "What did he say?"
"You don't want to know," Rocket waved him off.
Thor looked at Gamora, "How do you know so much? You know Thanos well."
"Gamora," Drax explained, "is Thanos's daughter."
Thor suddenly looked up, anger burning in his eye, "Is that true?"
"Do you know what he's done?"
"Your father killed my people."
"He killed a lot of people, including my best friend."
Star-Lord stood up, "Buddy, that's not quite right. More accurately, he's her adoptive father."
Drax added, "And she hates Thanos just as much as you do."
"Is that so?"
Thor walked over, stopped in front of Gamora, and gently patted her shoulder.
"Every family has its own troubles."
Loki spread his hands, "Tell me about it."
"Right before my father died, he told me I had an older half-sister who'd been locked away in hell."
"Then my sister came back and stabbed out one of my eyes."
"So I had no choice but to kill her. That's life, isn't it?"
"It has its ups and downs."
"I understand what you're going through."
"Oh, wow."
"Great. Sounds like you two have something in common."
Star-Lord cut in, "But I have to interrupt. Shouldn't the most important thing right now be stopping Thanos from wiping out half the life in the universe?"
"Instead of sitting here comparing whose life is more miserable?"
"And speaking of that, I've had it pretty rough too."
"I killed my own father with my own hands. That's harder than killing your sister, don't you think, buddy?"
Rocket rolled his eyes, "There he goes again."
"I am Groot," Groot said without even turning around.
Rocket pointed at him, "This time, I agree."
Loki was getting irritated, "So what did he say this time?"
Thor continued eating as he spoke, "Thanos should be heading to Earth."
"If I'm not mistaken, there are four Infinity Stones on Earth right now."
"The Mind Stone is embedded in Vision's head."
"The Sorcerer Supreme safeguards the Time Stone."
"Heimdall's final use of the Bifrost sent both Hulk and the Conqueror to Earth."
"The Conqueror has the Power Stone and the Reality Stone."
"So Thanos will definitely go to Earth!"
Gamora shook her head, "Wonderful. That means one trip to Earth and he'll collect four Stones."
"Five."
Loki smiled and reminded her, "Thanos already has the Tesseract."
Rocket clapped his paws, "Now that's some truly good news."